GOOD GRIEF. Has it been that long?

Hey there... it's been a bit longer than I'd intended since my most recent post. I was inspired to have a look at my own blog after exchanging emails with The Other Donna in the past few days.

This week marks a good time to refresh the blog, as we have a dose of Vitamin SEA coming up this week. To that end, the cats have been taken to the vet for their annual checkup, shots, bloodwork, and boarding. Baxter will come with us "down-a Shore". Where we're staying, they even have a dog beach a couple blocks away. Last August, we introduced Baxter to the ocean. I wish I'd felt brave enough to actually handle my camera while the dog and I were standing in salt water, because the bewildered expression on Baxter's face was priceless. He watched as a little wave came up and swirled gently around his paws, and he was not sure what to make of this water that comes right up and meets you. Maybe this year, we can convince him to have a good play in the waves. But we shall see.

Captain and Stanley are 11 now -- go and look at the posts from January 2005 to find the time frame when I was just bringing them home for the first time. They were 9 months old then. How time flies!

Today's vet visit went as smoothly as can be expected. In prior years, both Captain and Stanley had gotten a bit overweight from free-feeding, so I began measuring their food. Fast-forward to now, and Captain is at a perfect weight, while Stanley has gotten a bit too slender. Combine this with the fact that the prescription food (to prevent crystals) they're now eating actually has fewer calories than the Iams they'd been eating before, and I worked out with the vet just how much to increase their daily food intake per day. Where they each used to be eating 1/2 cup in the morning, now they will get 2/3 cup apiece. That should make them happy.

Other than being a bit thinner than he needs to be, Stanley passed his exam with flying colors. Captain's weight is perfect, but the vet felt what could be nodules on the thyroid. There's also one small tooth that might be affected with gingivitis (that old bugaboo again) and need to be removed.

Both of them will have a complete senior blood panel, for which the results should be back about midweek, so if there are any issues going on, we should be able to flag it right away and start taking care of it. But I hope all will continue to be well. The good news is that they're as active as ever, playing and getting The Zoomies regularly. Stanley jumps to the top of the china closet, which is no mean feat, while Captain prefers the top of the refrigerator. I have stopped reprimanding them for this, figuring that if they can still make that kind of leap at age 11, then more power to them. Heck, Captain only recently resumed making jumps like that -- while he was a little butterball, he couldn't launch himself to such heights. Nobody camps out in front of the water bowl, nobody is lethargic or hiding, nobody gives any evidence of pain or discomfort, and there's no sign in the litterbox of any problems going on. So that's about as good of a track record as we can get, going into the annual senior bloodwork.

I'm almost completely packed for tomorrow. The only things left to pack are the ones I will still be using tonight and/or tomorrow morning. My goal is to resume blogging by documenting the coming week, and just keep going from there.

HOCKEEYYY is back!

The Flyers' first TWO preseason games are in progress, even as I type. They have one split-squad set of games, where half the players are in Philly playing vs. Washington. Meanwhile, the other half of the players are in London, ON, playing vs. the Maple Leafs.

I have the Flyers/Caps on TV, and Flyers/Leafs on the internet. We're about halfway through the first period in both games, with Caps 1, Flyers 0 in the one game, and Flyers 0, Leafs 0 in the other game.

HOORAY for HOCKEY! :)

Groundhog Day, seven months late!

HELLO. There's a big, greenspace area that Baxter and I pass on our daily dogwalk route. It's owned by the Port Authority, as it runs under an on-ramp to the highway that leads to the bridge to NJ. Tonight, as I was walking past the side of it closest to my house, I spotted something moving at the far end of the green area (which is surrounded by a fence). It looked animal-like, but I couldn't make out what kind of animal it might be.

We kept walking. I kept an eye on this moving shape. When we approached the far end of the green space, I realized it was AN ADULT GROUNDHOG. Surprise!

I took my camera phone out, but by this point, it had spotted the dog and me and bolted for cover. Oh, well. No photographic evidence for me. But yes, we DO have groundhogs in this part of the city. Emphasis on CITY, complete with row houses, parking on the street, and front lawns the size of a tablecloth. Who'd'a thunk it?

RIP Robin Williams

I am just heartbroken to see the news that Robin Williams has not only died, but apparently has taken his own life due to depression. I know all too well what a demon depression is. :-( It saddens me that someone I admired so much was engaged in that painful battle, with which I am all too familiar. And it grieves me even more that he lost one of those battles, and in doing so, the war.

Depression sux. Trust me when I say that if you recognize the symptoms in yourself, the thing to do is go directly to your doctor. Treat it as a medical emergency, because it is one.

RIP Robin Williams. Thanks for a lot of great memories.

Progress! LOL

Captain was heading toward the kitchen. Baxter was heading out of the kitchen. They had to pass within inches of one another across the same real estate.

As they walked by one another, they had this converstaion:

Captain: "PFT!"
Baxter: "RF!"

Then they continued right on past one another and headed to their desired destinations.

Just one brief, perfunctory half-a-hiss, and just one "Well, I gotta grump back at you" half-a-bark. Progress! LOL

DUCKIES!!!! <3

DUCKIES!

Just as Baxter and I were a couple of houses from home, on our morning walk, we passed a raised garden that someone has on the pavement and suddenly, there was a fluttering. At first, I thought we had surprised a squirrel, since that has happened before on that very spot. (I also think the tree nearest to our house has a squirrel's nest in it.) 

But then I realized that what we were looking at was a female mallard duck. She started dragging one wing and limping, and I thought, "Oh no, an injured bird!"

That was when I noticed, belatedly, five or six fuzzy ducklings peeping away. (It occurred to me afterward that many mama birds will feign injury to lead predators away from their chicks.)

This surprised me, because while we are less than a mile away from some man-made lakes, mama and babies will have to traverse multiple blocks of city traffic in order to get there. I have no clue where that nest was, but this is not the place where I would have expected to see one.

Baxter, meanwhile, was hauling at the leash, but I wouldn't let him anywhere near the ducks. I actually think he wanted to herd them, being part Corgi, but I wasn't taking any chances.

At this point, another lady also appeared on the scene, and when the duck family started to cross the street, she accompanied them in order to control traffic. I told her that I would have liked to help with traffic control, but I didn't want the dog near the birds.

So, that was my adventure for the morning so far. The duck family got safely across the street, and were heading in the direction of those man-made lakes. I hope they get there safely.

Prepping for Deaf-Blind Camp

I've been getting things ready to pack for Deaf-Blind Camp. I'll be there next week while Mark stays home and holds down the fort.

But one thing I categorically DO NOT want to take with me is this freaking HEEL PAIN. The Achilles' tendon area on my right foot, the one I need in order to drive, is swollen and is killing me, for no discernable reason. I didn't fall or have any memorable sort of mishap that would lead me to think, "Well, when that happened, I must have hurt myself." I just have this mystery freaking PAIN, out of nowhere.

Well, wherever it came from, it needs to go back. Like, yesterday. This freakin' issue had better be G-O-N-E by the time I leave for camp. I have no pressing desire to drive or four hours with this foot in this condition.

Poor Mr. Squirrel

Aw, shoot.

There are two parts of my daily Walk With Baxter where we tend to encounter squirrels. One is right near our house, and in fact I suspect that there is a squirrel's nest in our tree. The other place is around the corner, and this morning, we saw Mr. Squirrel looking fit and healthy. And Baxter got his morning entertainment barking up a telephone pole, when the squirrel decided that the human and the dog had gotten too close for comfort, and climbed to safety.

Well, we just had our dinnertime walk, and the squirrel from around the corner is now climbing trees at the Rainbow Bridge. He must have had an unfortunate encounter with a car sometime during the afternoon, poor thing. Romp in the sun, Mr. Squirrel. I hope you know I never would've let Baxter close enough to do any harm.

The one bit of GOOD news is that as we made our way home, there was a squirrel bouncing around near our house. So THAT squirrel clearly is not the same one as we'd see around the corner. (Which was a concern of mine. I'd hate to see something happen to the critter who I think nests in our tree.) So at least we still might get to see squirrels during our daily walks.

Oh, dear

I believe I have just discovered that the side effect of flushing, caused by Niaspan, is in fact almost identical to a hot flash. I have suspected it was for a long time, but I did not have a basis for comparison until just now. However, the side effect is less severe.

Whew. 

Doggone. 

Baxter and the Squirrel

I believe there is a squirrel's nest in the tree in front of our house. When the leaves dropped last fall, I saw that there was a nest in the tree. This year, before the leaves came back, I saw an adult squirrel poking around on the nest, and I wondered if s/he was readying it for another year of use.
Anyway, three times in the past two days, I have seen a squirrel in front of our house while walking Baxter.

Baxter thinks chasing squirrels is great sport, but THIS squirrel seems to be trying for a Darwin Award. I don't think he runs away anywhere near immediately enough when the dog starts barreling in his direction. He sits there and freezes for a few seconds, right in the middle of the sidewalk where there is zero cover.

It's a good thing that I have no desire to see what would happen if Baxter actually CAUGHT a squirrel, because at least two out of those three times, the only reason Baxter didn't get the squirrel outright was because I was hanging onto the leash full-force. The third time, Baxter spotted him from so far away and started barking, that a SNAIL would have had plenty of advance warning to take cover, lol.
Anyway, Baxter is teaching the squirrel (I hope!) how not to become a victim of natural selection.

*whack* *RUR RUR RURF!*

LOL. My critters are nuts.

So there I was, coming down from the second floor, when I heard a commotion in the dining room. I walked in to find Captain under a dining room chair, hissing at the barking dog.

I put one hand on each of Baxter's flanks and steered him toward the living room. "OK, you, that's enough. Leave your brother alone." Baxter stopped barking and walked into the living room.

Suddenly, a big orange BLUR came zooming out from under the dining room chair, ran up behind the dog, whacked his backside with the Paw of Doom, and then ran into the cellarway with the now-barking dog chasing him.

By this point, I was laughing too hard to reprimand either one of them. It's ineffective to scold a critter while you're laughing your face off. :-D

Newspaper Taxis

Clever canterpieces!

We are about to see a Beatles cover band called The Newspaper Taxis. How cool are these centerpieces? :-)

Old Pine St. Church famous gravesite

Well, poop. No flea market this year

Well, shiznit. 

My friends and I have gone to the annual flea market at Old Pine Street Church every year since the 80s or early 90s. So I have had it as an annual event in my calendar for eons. We used to go with Joan, and after she passed in 1995, we would go and reminisce. 

So I took the bus up here, as I always do. I thought it odd to see no outdoor tables, so I went in their community center. I thought maybe it was all moved indoors due to the threat of rain. But a lady volunteering for what appears to be a meal for seniors said there's no flea market this year. According to the lady, it's a lot of work and they were not making any money on it.

Poop. I guess we should call ahead before going next year. It'll be a shame if our annual tradition has died. 

Laughing Gull

There is at least one Laughing Gull flying around over the Pathmark parking lot

As they are normally considered salt-water birds, I checked my link for the Delaware River Salt Line. (Check it here: http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/river/salt/ ) It's nowhere near Philly, nor should it be. In fact, it's a good 15 miles south of its normal location at this time of year, thanks to all the recent rain. 

The first time I saw a Laughing Gull here, years ago, I called the local Audobon Society to report it. I am not sure she believed me, due to that whole salt-water-only thing. But I know what I saw, and I'm seeing it again now. 

New Hope, PA

There was a celebration yesterday in New Hope, PA. It was the 25th anniversary of one of the employers for which I do freelance work, and the day involved a photo shoot and video, and a picnic. 

My appointment time was 10:30. So I asked Mark to wake me when he got up, since sometimes I sleep through the alarm. Well, he forgot AND I slept through the alarm, resulting in my sleeping till 8:45. I walked the dog, fed the critters, took my meds, and flew out the door. I proceeded to treat the speed limit like a polite suggestion, but I made it to New Hope in 64 minutes, arriving with 9 minutes to spare. 

The day itself was great. The photo and video shoots were interesting, the food was terrific, and I went to the nearby outlets and shopped. All in all, a productive day. :-)

Sometimes, it hits out of nowhere

During that gap in posting, there was one particularly bad five-week period when I heard from no one. And as Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."

Except to say that the time period did some internal damage that is still not entirely... repaired? Healed? What word would work here? I don't know.

To the point where I can spend a good day with everybody who I didn't hear from in all that time, like today, and still feel blue, left out, and disconnected within hours of the get-together ending. Like tonight.

I lost a lot more faith in people than I'd realized. I guess that, given that it took five weeks for the internal damage to develop, it's not going to just go away like flipping a switch. When a forest has been clearcut, it's not going to sprout back up into a big forest again overnight. I am going to have to let my ability to have faith in people start growing from the ground up.

I gave my business card out

I gave my business card to the local handmade-items consignment shop.

We shall see where this goes. :)

So, how do you like the new format?

So I decided that after 11 years, it was time to update the blog template to include all the New Cool Features that didn't exist back before Google bought the Blogger service from its original developers.

Now I can post my links to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, as needed.

Emerald Green plus a Flower of Life pattern in the background is a perfect combination for me. But HOLY LINKFEST, Batman, did it ever take me time to copy over all those zillions of links that you see on the right-hand side. The good news is, all that work is done now, so I can go back to adding individual links as the mood strikes.

We had an interesting walk with Baxter tonight. The normal route takes us across the street from a diner, and lo and behold -- who was coming out just as I went by, but my parents. So we got to chat, and they got to dote on Baxter. (Till my dad tried to hold the dog, which upset Baxter and then they both had to Ignore The Dog for a while till he relaxed.)

My dad's got a dented rear fender, which he will have repaired later in the month. He was trying to back up and apparently a fire hydrant leaped into his path. He has a backup camera in the car, which is a great feature, but unfortunately, it doesn't spot obstacles that are beside the car. Oh, well -- the main thing is, nobody got hurt and the damage is easily fixed. Car repairs are painful to the wallet, but once they're fixed, you're good to go - unlike physical injuries, for which you might need some combination of surgery, stitches, a cast, and physical therapy, and even THEN you might not be 100% recovered afterward. We definitely prefer NO mishap, but if there's gonna be a mishap, fixing a damaged car is a lot less involved than fixing a damaged person.

And now, to celebrate my new format, I shall not only publish this post, but share it with Facebook. :-)